Rage and lack of coping skills? Need advice/experiences for a relative

[lyme_mom]

Hi Smartyjones :-)! Thanks for your great info! We are all doing well and are still off lyme treatment now a year and four months. I will do an update in another thread. So how much of the rage is related to the infections do you think?

 

 

hmmm --- the extended million dollar question -- on the initial surface, i'd guess the rages are totally related to infection -- or at least, the process started by the infection. so - i'd say your relative should fully explore strep/TBI/myco and all the various infections. but with the thought that the infection is triggering some faulty thinking that can also respond, at least in part, to coping strategies such as ERP and learning new skills or strategies. with the disclaimer that sometimes, the brain is just not able to respond b/c it's so overwhelmed. i do think there are situations that the brain needs to calm first to be able to deal with the strategies.

 

as the infectious process goes on -- to what extent is the body affected in an autoimmune manner and what does that bring on? to me, that's the bigger one without the 'easy' answers. unfortunately, i fully realize the ridiculousness of stating healing these infections in and of themselves as the 'easy' answers!

 

for my ds, we're still in the process of peeling away the layers of infections. he's not 100% as far as infection, but was very much improved. we have seen a wild herx to an antiviral that included extreme behaviors that i attribute totally to infection. he's also only 7, we've been at this 3 years -- what inept processing and coping does he have from that that may be learned brain function but aren't infection driven?

 

with recent extreme stress, he went into a pandas-like exacerbation. we saw great results with motrin therapy. what does that show? clearly not so much infection. i think it's got to do with inflammation in the brain or of the BBB. but -- what is driving that -- stress or further infection?

 

just last night, i saw his interior nose inflammed and he's coughing and throat clearing this morning. i'll take him tomorrow to see if it's a sinus infection. could that have been what i was seeing that is just coincidental to extreme stress and it really is infection based?

 

so, just this morning, he was out of control with upset that his brother had an extra cinnamon roll more than him. only one solution that we get more. angry and inconsolable except for that solution. unable to really work problem solving model that has been a gem in last few months. 20 min after 1 does of motrin -- calm, interested in activities and doesn't care about the roll. when i asked if he had anything to eat this morning, "yeah, i had a cinnamon roll" with a smile.

 

how familiar is your relative with the infectious-neuropsych world? maybe you could suggest a mortin trial during time of rage or upset, just to see what happens. many pandas parents have success with it. that's not to say that if it has no effect, it's not strep or infection related.unfortunately, it's a stop-gap and not a long term solution, but can be helpful at times.

thanks smartyjones. I forgot about advil. That's good to know. You have been at this a long time. I didn't realize it had been three years already-but not three years treating TBD's, right?

[Santi]

Hi Lyme Mom,

 

My son is also 9. He has a huge portfolio of problems but I would rate rage/anger/irritablity the worst. He has a diagnosis of Lyme/Bart and borderline Babesia. His Lyme doctor believes that the rage is mostly from the bartonella. If your child has lyme, I would definetely check for the co-infections. Bart is notorious for rage as I'm learning. My son was taking Rifampin and Azith but we've since switched. I must say that it has worked very well on the rage/anxiety/anger piece. We are truly thrilled about this. I can actually touch him now and he doesn't tear our house apart. Good luck with this! Andrea

Edited November 28, 2011 by Santi